Politics

Ending a pregnancy in 14 states leaves few options. Some are looking to Europe and India for help

BY: - March 20, 2023

The pills came in a dark salmon-colored envelope sealed with a plastic covering that traveled more than 7,000 miles, over a dozen time zones from Nagpur, India, in almost exactly one week. They were placed partially under the doormat of a home in a state with one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the […]

Oregon Gov. Kotek adds Malheur, Clatsop counties to homelessness state of emergency

BY: - March 20, 2023

Gov. Tina Kotek has added two rural counties to her homelessness state of emergency so the state emergency management department can help coordinate state and local response to the homelessness crisis there. Kotek announced Friday that Malheur County, with about 31,000 residents in southeastern Oregon, will join the primarily urban counties in the state of […]

COMMENTARY
syringe used for shot

Senate bill addresses problem of poorly regulated medical waste incineration in Oregon

BY: - March 17, 2023

Did you know Oregon is home to the only place in the western half of the United States that still imports and burns medical waste?   That place is in Marion County, home of Covanta’s trash incinerator, the only plant burning trash or medical waste in the state.  It burns around 14,000 tons of medical waste […]

Oregon lawmakers propose measures to stem gun violence, stem ‘ghost guns’

BY: - March 16, 2023

Oregon lawmakers are pursuing a package of firearm bills aimed at preventing gun violence and curbing the proliferation of untraceable guns.  They say the proposals are needed to stem gun violence and give law enforcement the necessary tools to address the issue.  The Democratic lawmakers have the support of House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, who […]

COMMENTARY
Oregon Senate floor session

Time to shine the light on the taxes of big corporations 

BY: - March 16, 2023

In the current legislative session, as is the case every session, corporate lobbyists are hard at work trying to procure new tax breaks for their clients. These lobbyists representing many big corporations are going around waving a corporate-funded study claiming that business taxes in Oregon are too high.  If you are a lawmaker, you lack […]

An engineer examines a computer chip.

Lawmakers endorse $200 million Oregon CHIPS Act to boost semiconductor businesses

BY: - March 15, 2023

Eight months after Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act, a $280 billion boost to the U.S. semiconductor industry, a panel of state legislators on Wednesday endorsed the Oregon CHIPS Act to give local companies a leg up in competing for federal money.  The bipartisan, bicameral 14-member committee started its work in January with the […]

homelessness in Salem

Oregon House passes $200 million for housing and homelessness, calls it a start

BY: - March 15, 2023

Oregon is on track to spend $200 million to help homeless residents move into houses, give people who have fallen behind on rent more time to pay and create new goals for cities to build homes under a pair of measures approved Wednesday by the state House. 

Students in class

Gov. Kotek urges state lawmakers to back literacy initiative 

BY: - March 15, 2023

Gov. Tina Kotek kicked off her first term this year with an especially big goal – to revamp the way Oregon teaches children to read and write.  Less than half of Oregon students can read and write at their grade level. This has a substantial impact on the students individually and on society. Kotek is […]

Oregon farmers tell Chavez-DeRemer to advocate for their needs in farm bill negotiations

BY: - March 15, 2023

As Congress negotiates a new five-year farm bill, farmers from around Oregon asked U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to make sure their needs aren’t overlooked. Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican who’s on the House agriculture committee, said Congress aims to pass a farm bill by September, though some fear negotiations could last until 2024. She met with agriculture […]

COMMENTARY
Oregon Legislature Capitol building under construction

Although Oregon’s open records laws aim for transparency, they’re complicated

BY: - March 15, 2023

If you want people to recycle, make it as easy as possible.  The same should be true of Oregon’s open records law, but it isn’t. With this being Sunshine Week, which focuses on easier access to public records, it’s important to remember that accessing public documents in Oregon gets more complicated all the time. The […]

behavioral health residential facility An empty patient room at the Children's Farm Home run by Trillium Family Services in Corvallis on Friday, Oct. 29.

Lawmakers consider proposal to expand behavioral health system to house, treat hundreds of people

BY: - March 14, 2023

In the central coastal region of Lincoln County, nearly one in 20 adults have an addiction. Yet the county lacks a residential facility to house and treat people who suffer from drug and alcohol addictions, forcing them to seek help in Baker City, which is sometimes the closest option but far from family and friends. […]

COMMENTARY

Progressives advance a “mend it, don’t end it” approach to Oregon’s kicker

BY: - March 14, 2023

This is the year when progressives in Oregon stopped trying to abolish the state’s tax kicker and began to figure out how to live with it. Their ideas chart a path that could resolve the decades-long conflict over Oregon’s most loved and hated tax policy. Progressives at the Oregon Center for Public Policy have argued […]